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Sunday, August 15, 2010

Irrigation

For just over a year I have watered with soaker hoses - the rubberized hoses that have weep holes all over. I got them on special and they must have been quite old then as they have rapidly deteriorated, and one section had a lot of areas that had been repaired with electrical tape. Then it began to kink and break, so I knew something had to be done. I found some deep irrigation spikes on the clearance rack in Bunnings, our big hardware store down in Cairns, and snapped them up.

I didn't have a very clear plan of what I was going to do, but figured that since I got the spikes regularly 10.00 a box for 2.00 a box, I was well on the way to creating a thrifty long lasting irrigation system. While digging out the heleconias I had removed all the remaining weed mat (something I will never use again!) and also the broken pieces of soaker hose. Thinking I needed to buy some irrigation pipe at some stage to join all the spikes together I sat down to work out what else was needed to get the system working. Lo and behold I discovered it would work with some of the excess hoses my neighbour had given me! Wow!

I poked holes in the ground and measured the distance to the next spike and then hubby would attach it and pass it back to me, and soon we had the hose snaking around and the spikes buried deep next to the bigger plants. Watering right at the roots, just exactly what I needed! This system is designed to flow from a water tank - would I love one of those! - but I attach the hose to a joining T and it flows off in all directions and seems to be working perfectly. I buried the hose under the paths where needed and once I add a layer of mulch you wont see the hose, so it will all seem to be working like magic!

The soaker hose off to the the left of the tree still seems to be functioning OK, so it will be interesting to see the difference in watering systems on either side, since they will both be watered for the same amount of time.

Bernie, well funnily the soaker hose works very well in the vegetable garden - maybe because they need water on the surface, rather than deeper. Yes I do like the plants to develop deep roots, so I think this system will do that.Missy, I will see if I still have the box and take a photo of that.

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Quotes I enjoy

Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables, they probably get jet-lagged, just like people do - Elizabeth Berry

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:6-7

The secret of happiness is not found in seeking more,

but in developing the capacity to enjoy less

- paraphrased from Socrates quote

“See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother Teresa

Nature in all its diversity grants us a glimpse into the heart of God the Father which is nothing but Love.

It is not what you look at that matters, it is what you seeHendry David Thoreau

Making a garden is not a gentle hobby for the elderly,to be picked up and laid down like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole, and once it has done so he will have to acceptthat his life is going to be radically changed. May SartonPlant Dreaming Deep, 1983

When the trees sing,It doesn't really matterIf you know the song, Or if you know the words,Or even if you know the tune.What really matters is knowing ....That the trees are singing at all.Mattie Stepanek, 1990-2004

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walkor an evening saunter;to be thrilled by the stars at night:to be elated over a bird's nestor a wildflower in spring... these are some of the rewards of the simple life.John Burroughs, 1837-1921

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder…”– Thoreau

“Exercise is a dirty word. Every time I hear it I wash my mouth out with chocolate.” ~ Charles M. Schulz

You who walkmaybe with troubled thoughts....Come, enter here and restand may the sweet serenityof growing things....and the heavenly peacebe mirrored in thy soul.by Michael Palmer

Gods GardenThe Lord God planted a gardenIn the first white days of the world,And he set there an angel wardenIn a garment of light enfurled.So near to the peace of HeavenThat the hawk might nest with the wren,For there in the cool of the evenGod walked with the first of men.And I dream that these garden closesWith their shade and their sun-flecked sodAnd their lilies and bowers of roses,Were laid by the hand of God.The kiss of the sun for pardon,The song of the birds for mirth, -One is nearer God’s heart in a gardenThan anywhere else on earth.For He broke it for us in a gardenUnder the olive-treesWhere the angel of strength was the wardenAnd the soul of the world found ease.Dorothy Francis Gurney

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.Mary Jean Iron

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.Albert Einstein

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time."~ John Lubbock******************************************************